Sexing Blue Ram Cichlids

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Cereal

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Mar 25, 2011
Messages
45
Location
Auburn, Alabama
Hey I bought 2 Blue Rams on Friday from my LFS and have had trouble sexing them. I'm pretty sure one is a male, but the other I can't decide what it is. Here are a few pictures of both. The one I am pretty sure is a male stays at the front of the tank while the other (the one I need more help on) stays towards the back so I couldn't get very many pictures of it. The first 3 pictures are of the one I think is a male. The next 4 are of the unknown one. And the last picture is of both together.
 

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The first one is a male. i am 95% sure. The other one could be a female, but probably since its new is very dark. Give it a week and I am sure you will be able to tell. Good fish, just really finicky. Good luck.
 
Females will have black on there bottom fins an at the end of their dorsal fin should be rounded males will not have the black an the dorsal will be pointed also found this pic on Internet hope it helps
 

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Yea, they look like they're still young and developing - but I'd say you have a pair. Pic #6, #7, and the one in the back of #8 looks female, while the front one in #8 looks male.

You probably wont see any mating behavior until they mature a little bit more.
 
Thanks for all of the quick replies! Even with the research I did before I bought them I wasn't able to sex them. I was able to get a few more pictures of the supposed female today. Oh and I meant to say this in my first post, sorry about the picture quality. I took them with my iPhone and we all know how that goes... Now on to the pictures!
 
I agree. Definately looks like you have both sexes, but they are young. Some times just feeding them better for a couple days the colors will dramatically change.

Are you going to try and breed them? I have a pair that just spawned tonight. :B-fly:

Good luck,

Julie
 
Yes I am planning to breed them. I have been breeding guppies on and off for the past year and wanted to spice the hobby up for me. I have always loved how GBRs looked and the other day when I went to Petco they had some. After inspecting them and researching them on my iPhone for the greater part of 2 hours I decided to get what I thought was a male and female.

I just moved both of them into a 10gal I put together and they seem to love it! I actually haven't seen them fight each other like they used to. They just swim around picking up bits of the EcoComplete substrate and spitting it back out. I love watching them. They are so much more fun then guppies!

I do have a few questions though, if I were to get another female would there be any problems or would that be a smart decision? I know with guppies it's good to have a 1:3 male to female ratio but these are the first cichlids I have owned. Also, what is the best way to lower Ph? Mine is around 7.6 I think so it's way too high for them to breed, but they seem to be loving the tank to themselves.

Good luck with your fry! :)

I just noticed the pictures didn't upload with that last post. Grrr. Here's attempt #2 with the pictures from yesterday.
 

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They are a pairing fish so that's good and driftwood will lower ph and flat smooth stones for the eggs
 
Angelfish56 said:
They are a pairing fish so that's good and driftwood will lower ph and flat smooth stones for the eggs

Wait so should I get another female to increase the chances of them becoming a pair? Sorry I didn't understand your reply. I do have a good sized piece of mopani root in the tank with them but I haven't noticed a decrease in Ph. Eh, maybe it just needs time. I will get some flat rocks for them soon, just haven't had much time to go out to stores, over even creeks, to look for them.

Here are a few pictures I just took. They seem so happy! Or maybe that's just me :)
 

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The tannins in driftwood are what cause a drop in ph. And it doesn't last. Driftwood doesn't permanently lower ph.
 
Bettababe1011 said:
The tannins in driftwood are what cause a drop in ph. And it doesn't last. Driftwood doesn't permanently lower ph.

Ah ok. That makes sense. I never knew that though. Thanks for clarifying.
 
A few days after i got that first pair i moved them from my 20g to my 10g so they would be alone. Ever since the move they seemed to never fight and we fine with each other. Today I added another female. She is the same size as the male and her red belly is a lot more red than the smaller female. Once I added her and a few new plants the male started chasing the smaller female. Do I have anything to worry about? Is having 1 male and 2 females in a 10gal bad? These are the first cichlids I have owned and I just want to make sure everything will be fine. Thanks for any advice
 
is the ph and alkalinity a big deal for the fish bc theyre have been clashing debates and im actually trying to decide between either a blue ram or bolivian ram and these are very pretty btw
 
I have only had them a week so I can't help you much, but from what I have seen they are doing great in my 7.6 Ph water. I don't know what my alkalinity is though. I did read before buying them that you need between 5.5 and 6.5 Ph to get them to breed and the same for the babies to survive or even hatch.
 
is the ph and alkalinity a big deal for the fish bc theyre have been clashing debates and im actually trying to decide between either a blue ram or bolivian ram and these are very pretty btw

i read the bolivian ram is easier to care for. and from i can tell u in my fishtank set up for doom he has been doing pretty well he loves swimming in the bubbles back and fourth! do u know how long it takes for them to like show there colors ?

the gbr is so pretty though i am currently obsessed with them i wish i could keep one =/
 
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